Walking Disaster
by Dracorium12
Summary: Life is never fair... When you're born you're either destined for a great life with a family and all that stuff, or your entirely screwed all together, and lead one heck of a F***in' life. Guess which one I fall under? OC centered-1st person-Pairings
1. Prologue

**Summary: **_People come and go, fighting and consoling, living and dying. That's how life works right?... Then why can't I disappear like the rest... _My voice trembled with a partial insanity. Enveloping within the depths of my heart, the darkness threatened to claw out what qualities of humanity I had left. Will a certain hyperactive shinobi save this mysterious girl from the same dark essence that nearly destroyed his being? If not, then why does he feel an obligation to protect her, even if it meant his own life in exchange for hers?

**Author notes: **Okay I know that I haven't finished my other story, but I wanted to take a break from it or at least get these fresh plots out of my head (since I'm kinda stuck on how to introduce the main plot...) I'll continue the other one (which was third person) when I feel like it. If you didn't read the previous one then you don't have to worry, it's always good to have a fresh start on things. Anyways I was inspired by many other stories for this plot, so I just had to write it. If you wanna read the stories that gave me inspiration feel free, they are pretty good and totally up to my standards (which are very high and by the way most are Naruhina I just luv that couple!). I've also finished reading the Twilight Saga a little while back so I thought I'd to try my hand at first-person. Hope you enjoy!

**Prologue: Confusion and Frustration in Modern Times**

_Pherreew! Pherreew!_

Two deafening shots pierced straight through my shoulder with something splattering across the ground. The momentum of the bullets and blazing pain suddenly flared through my entire body. And of course, I ended up face-planting into the marble flooring and sliding forward about five feet. I quickly lifted my upper half with my non-blown arm to survey the damage. Huge, dark blotches of red soaked my injured joint with shreds of what was left of my sleeve. Thin red lines of blood artfully trickled down my right arm. Then another wave of pain zapped through my head, just in case I didn't get the memo. I gritted my teeth together, so pissed and tired. The only thing on my mind right now was the stupid bullet that blasted apart my shoulder. Coiling my fingers into a fist, I brought my hands underneath my chest and slowly pushed myself off the floor, trying to ignore the stinging and protesting twinges in my shoulder. I managed to get onto my feet for about two seconds before my legs immediately gave out; I fell back onto the wall next to me. All of a sudden I couldn't even see straight. That definitely wasn't a good sign. I mean if the walls and the ceiling were spinning circles around you, you would think something was a tad off. Just a bit. I rapidly blinked in an attempt to clear the fog clouding my head. Even though my mind was mush and my body maimed at the moment, something thudded in my ears pretty loudly, growing even louder as a shot of adrenaline swam through my system.

Incoherent shouts rattled in my head like marbles in a mayonnaise jar. I could hear the sound of feet trample closer, but they were still a good distance away. Shutting my eyes closed, I tried to resume my focus not to fall. _I can't let them catch me, I can't let them catch me, I can't let them catch me... _I pressed into my mind, yet I doubted I would be able to follow through.

_So hurry up and move then. If you didn't notice, you got poison in your body and it'll kill you if you remain here any longer. _A thickly male voice I was forcibly merged with echoed in my head. _That's why we have to get out of here. Outside the poison will be negated because of the purity of the air. __But you have only a few minutes till it reaches your heart and... Well you know what will happen then… _Let's see that's translated as "get out of the building and the poison will go away, or else in few minutes you'll be screwed". Jeez always using complicated words that no one understands. It never was straight forward about things but I got used to it. _And I'm sure you could see how close they are... With that in mind, you think you could make it time? _It ended its mockery with its stupid evil chuckle. Great I'm happy it has a sense of humor. Too bad its presence vanished before I could shoot back a few words from my word bank. But talking to me didn't help the outbreak of migraines exploding in my head.

So it wanted me to use "that". I inwardly groaned. Y'know I hated almost everything about me and this was one of them. Everyone keeps saying how blessed I am to have this "ability", truly a gift from the heavens that I never believed in. Unfortunately _everyone_just happened to be crazed scientists who kept me locked up for seven long years of my life (and don't ask me about the other six 'cause I wouldn't know either). And I can tell you they didn't leave very happy memories. Now you tell me what it is: a curse or a blessing? However when it came to escaping a building full of white-coated brainiacs, it proved to be handy. Keeping my mind steady, I closed my eyes until I felt a rush of energy surge up my spine. It was weird how it all worked, and I didn't understand any of it myself, but the end result was all I needed. When the time felt right I snapped open my eyes and saw everything in a new light. Literally. All the colors were mixed up in batter of dark blue. Solid objects appeared as only white outlines. It was as if someone slapped a pair of x-ray glasses over my eyes. Now all I needed to find were big human-like blobs... that were running down the second hall next to mine... Dang it! Couldn't I ever catch a break!? A second later, an image flashed in the back of my mind with a pallet of colors, giving me a more exact picture of my pursuers: four whitecoats wielding their usual rifles. Fun. They were mostly likely the ones who somehow shot me earlier. I drew in a deep breath, frustrated. Damned thing was right. I didn't have the time or strength to fight them off.

Despite the freakin' pain that constantly ripped out of my shoulder, I tried pulling my dying body straight up. Then a sharp stabbing pain raced up my spine, leaving me worse than crippled: vulnerable. That and with a tingly feeling in my backside. With every second it became harder to breathe. Crazy genius poison at its best. _I'd appreciate it if you helped me out! _I harshly called out in my head. And as expected, nothing responded back.

"There she is! We can't let her escape, shoot her down!" One white-coated scientist barked the command, pointing his rifle at me. He led the other three down the narrow hall. Aiming with anticipated precision, he pulled the trigger with a crack of thunder. It must've been the adrenaline kicking in 'cause everything was in slow motion. I moved my head just so the bullet just barely grazed past my cheek. I saw the small droplets of blood fling off as I pressed against the wall. Kneeling on the ground, the remaining three fired another round of ammo, invisibly cruising at me. But I already broke into a sprint. As I ran a blast of red seeped out of my muscles and somehow froze the bullets in mid-air. Very cool and very useful. I looked over my shoulder, finding blank expressions plastered on their bug-eyed faces. I snickered to myself. I wish I had a picture of that.

My legs pounded against the ground as I leaned in a sharp turn. Oh did I mention that I had _the_ worst luck in the world. Because it didn't surprise me when I found five muscled guys rushing down the same hall. Their faces were scrunched with rage as they charged forward. They all raised their cattle prongs like a club, fully intending to fry me with all the juice they got. And I wasn't gonna stick around for that. Skidding to an immediate stop, I did a 180, and dashed the other way, but broke hard, almost falling face first. The guys from before had herded me into a now one way hall.

It took me a second to realize that. Dang, another reason I hated this place!

One of the bulky guards with a buzz-cut wore a wolfish grin, enjoying my "helplessness". "Give up girlie. There's no way you could get out of this," He sneered. Taking the cattle prong, he flipped the voltage on, surely, to the max. Its eminent buzzing filled the air. "You better pray that _he's_ going to forgive you for this, or at least be merciful enough to let you live."

Taking the chunk of energy out of my body, like _he _had taught me, I was about to whip out an attack that would have wiped them off the face of the earth when something abruptly impeded the flow. Suddenly I felt sick to my stomach. Following that, something leaked into the back of my throat. I doubled over, violently coughing up red everywhere. A small puddle of liquid formed at my feet, gradually stretching across the mineral white flooring. Blood. Time was almost up.

"Heh you like the new poison? We made it just for you…" He smiled presumptuously, revealing a row of stained crooked teeth. If I wasn't dying I would have gagged at the sight. Instead I was raging mad. What got me pissed was the sadistic grin that pulled around the tooth decay. I kept myself steady with my tensed muscles. Acidic hatred boiled in the pit of my stomach; if I was going out I would knock that smug grin off his face first. It was the same exact grin that _he _always gave me in memories I'd rather not mention. My teeth clenched together when my eyes met the hulking man's piercing stare. I was dreadfully eager to rip the jerk to shreds. Hmm... maybe I could rip out his throat before they shot me down. Then the massive man stepped closer. The hairs on the back of neck stood up and I heard a feral snarl vibrate in my ear drums.

Whoa was that just me?

A moment of fear flashed across his mountainous face. Another picture perfect moment that only I got to enjoy. But he quickly set up a mocking grin and snapped his fingers. "Just kill her. We'll tell _him _that this one has also failed." Obviously the rugged ass was their superior: the scrawny white-coats behind me took aim, angling their weapons at me. With my keen eyes I caught the uncertainty that flittered across their faces, but they obeyed the command nonetheless.

Then something lightly brushed across my mind. Now it shows up. _Looks like you dug yourself into one hell of a hole. Don't worry,_ _I'll take it from here- _

_Look I only need a small boost nothing else. I don't need any of your crap right now if I'm gonna get out of here alive. _It let loose a snarl that I had learned to ignore. I sighed internally. _Well you gonna purr all day or save your ass?_

_Don't push it brat..._

Guns cocked a few bullets. Now I was getting a little impatient. _The longer you complain the shorter we have. Get on with it!_

_... I hate you so much..._

_Good I'm happy were on the same boat._

At that moment a surge power circulated throughout my entire body. The atmosphere grew thick with some unknown force, and within the walls the steel beams creaked loud enough for all to hear. The air gradually became suffocated by the new sullen power. Minute cracks ran down the thickened glass behind me, webbing out across the surface with each second. And dents larger than my body dipped into the floor, fracturing the stony plane. I clenched my fists, unable to control the shaking. Hatred fueled that power as I have been told, and that wasn't a problem, I had plenty of that. But that power, of course, came with a price. A price that I stupidly forgot.

In an instant my vision tinted red. I anxiously twitched, suddenly feeling a roiling fury rise into my system.

The men behind the arrogant bastard immediately broke rank, recognizing the sudden change in atmosphere. I watched them run, some of them stumbling along the way; something creep onto the surface skin. As a hideous growl escaped from the back of my throat, I felt my canines press against the lower lip, slowly elongating. I remembered feeling nothing but anger. All my muscles tensed, wound tighter than a coiled spring under ten tons of lead. I remembered the irrepressible desire to kill, absolutely anything. It didn't matter what it was. Just as long as that hot, crimson blood would spill. That's when everything went red, and then faded into a cold, black darkness.

Next was the annihilating panic. For some reason I couldn't move at all. In fact, I couldn't see or feel as I floated in the empty space. Thoughts of murder and resentment were wiped clear from my head only to be replaced by a frenzied instinct to escape, survive. God I had to get out. Dark spaces that I can't move in are never good. What the heck was going on? Then something in the back of my mind clicked. I heard a small voice (a different one than what I'm used to hearing) whisper with a flood of images:

_The exact same thing happened... _

_So many years ago... _

_Fire... _

_Screams..._

_Yelling..._

_Everything was destroyed... _

_Everyone was dead..._

_Death..._

_It was my fault..._

I immediately recoiled from the memory like I had been burnt. I didn't want to see it again. Never again. Concentrating on forgetting what I just saw, my eyes drew into the darkness. Perhaps I was looking for some kind of light within it. Unfortunately, only sounds passed through the indestructible wall of oblivion.

And the last thing I heard sent a chill down my spine:

_Nap time for you, play time for me... _Echoes of dying screams followed those words.

* * *

When I regained consciousness, I was standing upright. I staggered backward, suddenly feeling nauseated again. My vision dotted with black and blue blotches. Looking for the wall for support, I gulped large doses of oxygen like I'd been underwater the entire time. But how long was an "entire time" exactly? What the heck happened while I was out? Nothing bad had happened. I hoped. Then a burning pain that I couldn't identify finally caught up to my brain. My hand flew up to the fresh wound on my right arm; pints of dark blood soaked through the sleeve. I breathed in heavily. When the hell did I get shot!?

My head shot up. I froze. My body broke out in cold sweat.

The hallway looked like ten sets of explosives had gone off, one for each fissure. Dim fluorescent lights flickered on and off. Casting an eerie radiance over the obliterated hall. An extremely strong smell of iron and salt congested the air. My wandering eyes traveled to the end of the hall, only to find a headless body drowning in a pool of blood. My shocked eyes widened. What the..! What happened? I took a step back, hitting something with my heel. I twisted around. Dreading what I saw.

Two bodies lay across the formerly white floor, they were apparently dead. Well... At least I thought one was a human body, all that was left of it were clumps of shredded pink skin and muscle and bones stripped clean of any meat. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to get the image out of my head. I usually wasn't so squeamish about stuff like this but I had a bad feeling I had something to do with it. Before I could puke my guts, I looked over to the man who was still in one piece.

I immediately recognized him. He was the jerk from earlier who had apparently wanted to kill me. But he ended up being the one getting killed. Oh the gruesome irony of it all. His short-haired head angled 90 degrees; the neck was a light pink and clearly snapped in half. His eyes were rolled up in the inside of his skull, with only the whites showing. And to finish off his horrified expression his mouth gaped open with streams of blood leaking out at the corners. I actually felt sorta bad for the guy. Don't get me wrong I hated his guts so much. And I was glad he was dead, but this was overboard...

This whole thing was overboard! A mysterious massacre at my feet. With me as the only one standing...

I didn't want to think about it.

Pulses of pain reminded me of my wound, and frankly, I was grateful for the distraction. During my short scan, I spotted a tool pouch on the man's waist. So I quickly knelt down and fished out a kunai from the corpse. Taking the knife, I carefully popped the bullet out from the punctured muscle, groaning at the effort as I dug into it. Shouts of furious commands grew louder with each passing moment. I twisted my head in the direction of the sound. And in seconds my wound began to close, glowing a soft red: courtesy of the "thing" inside me.

Wielding custom rifles, a group of about fifteen whitecoats trampled toward the scene at the north end of the hall. I straightened up, my hands calmly staying at my sides as the gunmen rapidly approached. Within fifteen meters of their targeted freak (me), the first line of men knelt down and shot a round of ammo. The others behind them shot another round as well. Now was that supposed to stop me? Didn't they already know? I held my right hand out in front, feeling a flow of power stream through my arm. Just before the bullets netted me with holes, the same swirling red barrier appeared, catching every single one. They would have to do better than that.

And you ask why didn't I do this before? Well to tell you the truth I forgot all about it. Fear + Near Death = Panic = Stupidity. Just a little side note to remember for later.

The laboratory gunmen gaped at my little show with buggy eyes the size of dinner plates. I nearly busted out laughing. Huh, maybe they didn't know. I suppose they weren't associated with the higher ups that were responsible for all the crap that I had to experience for the last seven years of life. Kinda sucks on their part to capture something they know nothing about. Oh well it makes it easier for me. While they remained dazed like moths to a lantern, I glanced at the cracked wall of thick glass on my left. I immediately threw myself against it, and it easily shattered like I had hoped. Crazy yes, but I did not want to stay in that hell any longer. Shards of crystal-like glass tore the skin off my limbs. Down below were green spikes just waiting to impale me. It was even better knowing that I was twenty-stories in the air.

Sucking in the fresh morning air relieved my burning lungs. I spun myself around, hearing noisy alarms wail, panicked voices yelling and someone else bellowing orders over the intercom. Probably a capture order. Hah! Like I would let them come five feet anywhere near me. I turned back, watching the blurry clumps of trees gradually grow bigger as I fell faster.

A smile broke out on my face along with another kick of adrenaline. It was so thrilling to fall like this, free of any people, along with unwanted voices and faces. I wished I could have stayed like this forever, but I wasn't ready to ker-splat onto the forest floor. And the poison must have cleared up 'cause I was able to think logically now. Exhilarating as it was, I was free falling twenty-stories into a forest of pines. And at this rate I was going to be tree-kabob very soon.

Concentrating on finding that red energy, I shut my eyes closed, searching deep within myself. Right now, I didn't trust that thing to be asking it any favors, if it ever answered them. So I was just gonna find it myself, I decided.

When I reopened my eyes, I noticed how sharp and clear every detail became. Even miniscule things like the veins in the emerald leaves of the forest were visible. I glanced at the approaching wood, calculating my speed. After confirming my altitude and height, I aimed myself downward, splitting through the air like a bullet. Probably at that point I was hitting one hundred miles an hour.

And with absolute certainty I flipped over, descending into the dangerous woods. I twisted around the deformed and sharply pointed branches without getting a single scratch. It was too easy. Then by applying the energy to the underside of my palms, I gripped onto the sandpaper-like bark of the large pines. I quickly slowed to a stop. My eyes drifted downward: I was still at least twenty feet above the ground. Good thing I had the ability to defy gravity.

Completely parallel to the ground, I flashed my eyes in the direction I just fell from. That extra boost of energy heightened all my senses by one hundred, so I felt the small rippling waves that flowed from the ground and into the tree. Now all I had to do was calculate the rate of each pulse.

They managed to form some sort of back-up. And none of them seemed non-human. Major bonus for me. I caught a number of pounding footsteps, counting each set._Hmmm... _Twenty. Thirty of them, with no vehicles. Aren't they stupid. In the distance, my advanced hearing also caught their angry shouts. A smile of satisfaction appeared on my face. _And they're not too happy with the recent escapade._ Those faces of fear and surprise were so funny. However, I sighed disappointingly. Would've been better if I blew up the joint though.

_Don't think about that now. We have to get out of here brat._

_Wow you decided to talk to me? That's a first. _Seriously, it never wants to speak to me more than necessary. Vice-versa.

_Shut up and listen to me. Most of my power hasn't fully healed yet, so you're only going twenty percent. If you deplete our energy with one big attack, they'll capture you before you get a chance to escape. _The demonic-like voice admitted regrettably.

Now it sounded reasonable (extremely rare). I suppose it didn't like their kinky little experiments either.

So with that said and done I twisted around, and pushed my legs as hard as I could. I flew through the trees, completely focused on out running my pursers. Did I care where I was going? No. Did I care what happened after that point? No. All that mattered was leaving that life and the memories that went with it.

I wanted to forget them forever.

* * *

Scientists rushed down the blood splattered halls. Panic filled their minds and rifles occupied their hands. Besides the strong hope that the research equipment escaped harm, dread loomed over their heads. Their most financially and time invested specimen escaped. The only specimen to survive through the never-ending experiments, through the agonizing tests, through pain filled trials; everything it survived through was entirely and solely designed to be as inhumane as possible. That's what made it so powerful and capable. It was their most successful creation to come out of the hybrid laboratory in the Underground. And that's why they had to retrieve it as soon as possible. All the training and tests made it stronger than an entire nation of most powerful shinobi in the world. However... it was still biologically unstable. With that much potential destructibility, it was their greatest weapon that could backfire at anytime. Like they say. A double bladed weapon needs to be handled with caution or else you get cut. So it was absolutely imperative to capture her before she got that chance.

In the midst of the chaos a man of blazing blonde spikes calmly stood at the site of the murders. He stood a good six feet or more and was of medium build, most likely a fighter as his appearance dictated. Clad in black leather, he wore a flowing trench coat and underneath was a tight fitting vest with a thin layer of chain mail underneath that, outlining the hidden muscles underneath. His hard set eyes reflected a sharp blue while he surveyed the fully-limbed bodies that sprawled across the ground, which wasn't much.

Finally he came across a body that wasn't too badly thrashed. When he meant thrashed he meant "still in one piece". He took a knee next the bulking man and gently examined the neck of the muscle builder. All of the skin had been stripped and burnt off of the throat, exposing the pink muscle underneath. Then he lightly applied pressure to the back of the neck, becoming aware of the misalignment of the man's vertebrae. _Damn she got him good. She not only snapped his neck in half but practically shattered it into a million pieces. Man she can go a little overboard sometimes… However, it's nothing beyond repair. _He exasperated a sigh as he got up and quickly looked over the bodies again. _Everyone else's been ripped to shreds. It's a shame she didn't leave me with much to work with, but it will have to do._ Snapping his fingers, two scientists dressed in the same white coats appeared on either side. Their faces were covered by leather gas masks.

"Tamaki! Takashi! Bring this one to the Underground," The blonde spiked man sternly ordered. "Patch him up, reconstruct his cervicals, and insert the next batch of serum into his bloodstream."

The two obediently nodded and hoisted the body onto their shoulders. After a quick hand sign, a shroud of smoke replaced where they stood.

The man ran his fingers through his yellow hair, releasing a huge sigh. Whatever the hell went on here, it was fairly contained considering her condition. It only cost him a couple of squads, but he acquired so much new information. Her response to danger was amazingly calm and alert; better than what he expected. Her thought process was... out of the ordinary, yet it still held above the average level of intelligence. Her synchronization level was pretty decent, however _it_ seemed to overpower her mentality. That was one factor that could cause problems. All these things he would have never discovered in this "safety bubble". A wretched smile slithered onto his lips. Now it was getting interesting. With this final test he would be able to judge whether or not she was prepared for her designated purpose.

He hoped that she would pass, for her sake.

Failure meant immediate extermination.

**

* * *

**

**Author Notes: **Unlike my other story I really, really, really love the plots in this one so I'm gonna try extremely hard to keep updating (though I won't make any promises). This one has a lot of ups and downs and loops and... yeah lots of stuff. I will try and make this one fresh and new. And a personal note for you readers out there please critique my writing! I'd really appreciate it! It will make the stuff you're reading now a lot more better! Thanks!


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: The Welcome Home isn't Always so Pleasant**

Escaping was phase one of my plan, the easy part. Phase two would be keeping it like that and never returning, the hard part. It was something that would last me my entire life. Eh, I guess that's the price for escaping a place that expected complete uniformity. As if my life didn't suck already.

I blurred through the wooded forest, effortlessly dodging contorted greens and branches that seemingly appear out of nowhere. Since my escape, I had been running like this for hours, non-stop. I was pretty sure I lost them by now. They didn't have the vehicles out, so there was no way they could possibly catch up to me. Even so, paranoia had me constantly peering over my shoulder, checking if anyone got past my wary senses and if somehow, some way they were tailing me. If there was one thing I learned in that freak house it was to never let my guard down.

Leaping over a forest floor was really distracting when you wore loose clothing. Things were never convenient for me. At the "prison camp" nothing really fitted my figure so I just stuck with guy clothes for the most part. Okay if you were wondering what I looked like I suggest you listen up now, 'cause I don't ever want to repeat it. Where to start? Oh height. Hmmm... When I thought about it, I was actually pretty short compared to the rest of my "roomies". But that's just my opinion. I never took the time to measure myself. So I wasn't really sure how tall I was: maybe 5' 6". 5' 7". My caramel hair, I guess, labeled me as a brunette (or a blonde, I'm not exactly sure, it's somewhere in between). I didn't ever bother messing with it so it was as unkempt as ever, falling more than a foot down my back (I think it went passed my butt). I'm pretty slim but had enough muscle to not be counted as a twiglet, and again I wasn't as buff as the guys that I knew 'cause that'd be pretty gross. Let's see... My skin was kinda tan despite the fact that I didn't really get out much if you knew what I meant. So there's nothing special about me besides my stupid gold eyes and that thing that was going on in my body.

Other than that I was pretty normal _looking_ (keyword being _looking_). End of description.

Continuing on, let's just say baggy cargos and a blood-stained tee beating me in the wind wasn't comfortable. But I wasn't complaining. My thighs were just a bit sore from my break-neck pace. No, it was bad enough with my hair constantly whipping my face. _Ugh, once I get to a town, I'm cutting off all this hair. It gets in the way of everything. _I thought to myself, removing the thin strands from my mouth.

_I told you should have kept it short. It would have definitely been more convenient during fights. _The voice intervened the thought amusedly. _Besides, it doesn't even suit you…_

What? Now it was giving out a fashion statement? I grabbed a hold of a limb, and flung myself forward, ignoring the splinters that pricked into my hand. _Shut up, I didn't ask for your opinion. _I bitterly directed at it.

_Hey it was just a minor suggestion. _My inner voice contemplated, but continued its nagging. _By the way, have you forgotten? Y'know the bond that you've kept for the last six hours? Cut it off. You're gonna kill yourself if you keep on using my power, you know that right?_

Oh that's rich. Now it was concerned with my health. I halted on top of one of the sturdier branches, keeping my hand against the side of the tree. My tired eyes drifted down to my feet. Building up a little sarcasm, I asked snidely, _And why should you of all people and entities care? You're not my mom._ Well that brought up an interesting thought.

I had absolutely no idea who my biological mom was. Don't get me wrong I had thought about it before, but I don't dwell on it for too long. And who could blame me? She abandoned me because of the monster inside of me. That made me feel absolutely great about myself. So she wasn't exactly a top ten on my list of people to meet or think about. Doesn't matter though. I never had an interest to have a motherly figure in my life anyway. Yet being raised by a certain bastard back there didn't help my childhood experience either. I hated the man. All I held for him was sheer hatred 100%. He never treated me like... I don't know, a human being, I was absolutely nothing to him. Nothing more than a lab rat to be poked and prodded at (and of course for all in the name of science. If it weren't for the fact that I was the only one out of several test subjects to survive his "special" experiments, he wouldn't have cared if I lived or died. Nope, with him it was all business. I have proof too. If I were to look in the dictionary under "asshole", there'd be nothing but a picture of him. Clear and simple. You couldn't even possibly imagine what happened to me at that "hell on earth". Besides struggling to live to see the next day, it definitely sucked to be raised in a science lab with no one else to talk to except the voice in your head. A voice that was also an asshole. Yeah not too fun.

Surprised that I'm not a crazy psychotic or a suicidal emo by now? I'm surprised myself, but on occasion those feelings would slip through. Physical pain can be the best remedy against emotional ache. Take it from me. Highly recommended for those with extensive auto-healing abilities. Not intended for those who could die of bleeding, unless you really wanted to die.

In retrospect, my life so far was a load of bull. Fate just decided to screw with _my_ birth into one entertaining chain of events. Links of one F-ed up moment to another.

_Wow I'm astonished that you even consider such terminology. That's a very disapproving habit to become affiliated with._ That nearly made me jump. Sometimes I forgot I had that inner, less sociably acceptable form inside of me that I wished never existed. It was a major pain when it wanted to speak to me. (And I will warn you now. You readers are gonna need a pocket dictionary in hand because I'm afraid these moments are sporadic and extremely frequent.)

I rolled my eyes as indifferently as possible. _Yeah so? A lot of it is from you when you're pissed and not confusing us little people with your unmanageable vocabulary. Seriously, sometimes I think you randomly pull words from the "World's Dictionary of Confusing Words". If any needs a vocab change it's you 'cause sometimes you make no sense whatsoever. You should try being straight forward and to the point. I heard a lot people like that kind of thing._ That was how I dealt with everything around me.

_I can't help it if your brain's capacity is too extremely limited to hold basic linguistic knowledge._ It countered back sarcastically with its matter-of-fact tone.

I so didn't hear that (and yes it just called me stupid). Gritting my teeth, I ignored the developing smart-aleck. Annoying pain in the ass...

For a few moments it was quiet again, until it brought up another subject. _Your story earlier..._ It started to say when I cut it off.

_What do you want now? I'm not really in the mood to talk to you._

_It's very sad. I'm sorry that I caused you _so _much pain… _Sniffling at the end, it barely hid the quiet snickers that leaked out. It soon broke into a laugh with an abrupt snort. _Damn when will you grow up? You're such a baby sometimes._

_For once can you keep your grubby paws off my thoughts? _I lashed back, whipping out a can of rage. I can't believe it listened to my self-ranting. Stupid inner voice. _I just want five minutes without you barging into my head._

_Can't promise you that, 'member? We share the same mind._ Reminding me of a previous annoyance. _What's more? I'm the only one who's ever looked after and protected you. So you should be a little more appreciative that you have your own personal body guard 24/7._

_That's only 'cause you need me to survive. _I countered with restrained anger. _Otherwise you'd die along with me… _Although that would be a definite plus for the world…

_See you just answered your own question of my concern. _It smugly stated, ignoring the last part.

Frustration overloaded my mind. Damn the god who cursed me with this thing. Unknowingly, my knuckles pressed into the bark until blood dripped down as I internally yelled. _It was a freakin' rhetorical question. It means you don't answer the damn thing!_

For a moment it was quiet. Then it chuckled enthusiastically. _You know, you are really funny when you're mad._

For the love of god.

I leaned into my shoulder, completely aggravated, slowly sliding down on the branch. I released an exasperated groan and nicked off the flow of power. Not completely because it was impossible to block the small leaks that continuously seeped into my body. Everything around me blurred for a moment then became slightly clearer as the energy was drawn back behind a fragile barrier. Suddenly a tide of exhaustion hit me like a ton of bricks. I lethargically sagged against the tree, panting as I became short of breath. I turned my eyes to the bright midday sky, which were probably their rich golden color that I hated so much. _There happy? Now leave me alone, or at least don't comment to every thought that pops up in my head, okay?_

It sighed._ Fine, I suppose girls need their privacy once in awhile. But don't let your guard down, _My other vacantly warned. _We're still not safe until we get into a town. So keep those eyes of yours peeled. _Its presence vanished in an instant, supposedly leaving me to ponder over what had occurred just a few hours ago.

With an escape comes a feeling of freedom, right? Well it was little late then. Technically I was still trapped. Cough. Mr. Know-It-All. Cough. But at least I was away from the crazed scientist and his cult of idiotic lunatics who had nothing better to do than keep me locked up in a cell and mess with my insides. That brought on a slew of despicable memories. I could almost smell the sterilizing scent of chemicals in the air, see the ultra-blinding examination lights, feel the cold, stainless-steel restraints gouge into my wrists and ankles, and hear the tortured screams that would echo down from the next room of my own. I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping to block out those horrifying sensations. God I hated this. I couldn't be left alone without one abnormality to drive me insane. Feeling suddenly vulnerable, I pulled my knees in trying to keep myself from shaking. Not that that helped much. My shoulders shivered slightly from the icy recollections of terror.

_Man, pull yourself together. _I told myself after a few minutes. _That's all in the past. It's done. Right now, I need to find some place to go first. Plus that undermining voice might hear. _That did a lid on my emotions I reorganized my scattered thoughts. Knowing where the heck I was going sounded like a good plan. Too bad I didn't have any plans beyond the escaping part. I never thought I would pull it off. So it was time to get creative. Pressing my chin on my knees, I thought hard and long. Most of the time I watched my surroundings, listening for anything that didn't belong in the woods. Multi-sized birds fluttered in the canopy while rodents scurried across the leafy carpet of the forest. I counted more than 800 critters within a range of 100 meters around. Then after minutes of nature gazing, I jumped back, startled by the surprisingly cold metal that touched the center of my chest. I tugged on the black cording hanging around my neck. What in the world? Puzzled, I pulled it out with the metal piece. Huh, I forgot I had a necklace on. The pendent itself was a thin, diamond-shaped metal painted jet black. A strange symbol of shining silver was carved into the plate, spiraling to the center. To me it looked like some weird arrow. On the back, artistic cursive initialed it with four letters: MKNN.

Oh yeah. It was the pendent that I had for... as long as I could remember. I had no clue where I got it. That was one of the mysteries I could never figure out. Exactly three days after I was taken in by the scientists I found it in the right pocket of my shorts. Maybe I had it before I was taken in. Maybe someone gave it to me while I was asleep. I wasn't sure. I couldn't remember anything before those three days.

Then the explanation of my pathetic existence popped up. Why does that keep showing up? Interesting as it may be to find my long lost relatives, I wasn't too fond of the one I already knew about. They probably wouldn't be any better...

_Perhaps a new path has been opened to you._

Whoa two times in one day. New record. _Path of what? _I asked. _How not to lead such a suckish life?_

_That's probably it. _It quietly laughed.

Ha ha, very funny.

Then suddenly, the voice shifted into serious-mode._ No, I meant to find out who you are. Maybe this is something you need to do. It's not like I'm gonna stop you._

Another good joke. _Yeah._ _I've heard that one before..._ I mumbled in my mind.

_It's your decision. I'm just here for the ride._

My suspicion voiced outward. _You're not just flashing these memories just so you could see me run around like an idiot, are you?_

_These are completely unintentional, _said my inverse-conscience. _There's no reason to be on guard, you would immediately recognize any threats concealed within my mind._

_Oh I'm not worried about that, _I complied. No matter how impossible it was, I didn't want it snooping around my thoughts.

And of course it heard that too. _Makes it much more efficient for communication, in my opinion._

_Whatever. _I thoughtlessly responded_._ When does it ever "communicate" when I need it?

_Just think about those memories. No matter how much it sucks or painful it is for you to dwell on these explanations, you can't just forget about them. They may seem insignificant to you, even as you constantly suppress your feelings, but it's still the only thing you have of what you humans call a "family"._

Was it just me or was something out of wack? _Why in the world are you helping me? No let me restate that, being nice to me at all?_

_Frankly, it's annoying to hear those incessant emotions that flitter in your mind on a day-to-day basis, _It mechanically stated. _You humans are all the same. Bottling inescapable emotions until you go insane._

_Oh shut up you stupid bodiless soul!_ I wanted to shout back, but its presence was already gone. Man I hated that thing. It was almost as bad as the scientists; it knew every thought that passed through my head.

Drawing in a two lungs of fresh air, I exasperated a deep, tired sigh. And then thought about what it said. For once the voice was wrong. Family wasn't one of the things I wanted. I mean, I was just fine by myself. No one ever came to help me before, so why would I need it now? Stupid thing got that totally wrong. Even if... Even if I were to find that could-be "family" of mine, they wouldn't accept me at all. What would I say? "Hey I'm the one you abandoned years ago and I know I'm a monster, but I'm still your kid so can I live with you?" Yeah, that worked out so well the first time.

On the plus side if I found my mom, I could at least find out if she regretted her decision. Or maybe, just maybe... No. Never mind, that's completely stupid... No one wants a screwed up kid who's not even human. Why would I think of such a stupid possibility?

Releasing another sigh, I quietly observed how the filtered light from above reflected off the silver of my necklace. Hmm. When I thought about it looked sorta-kinda like a leaf. Suddenly the foliage around me rustled noisily and I twisted around only to feel the slight harmless breeze passing through the forest. Wow, I am really paranoid and stupid. If someone was here, I would have known ahead of time when they came within a fifty-meter radius.

Then that "somebody" crossed into my inner radar. I shot straight up to my feet, feeling the familiar energy rise up my spine. Then I saw them. A group of four was about forty-five meters northeast of where I currently stood. And something else was new about them. That's when I panicked. Their energy capacity was intricately larger than any of the cult members back at the lab and they were rapidly closing the distance between us. Damn! He must have hired new people to help with his research. Or in my case torture for life.

Immediately, I pushed her right foot off the side of the tree, grabbed another branch overhead and swung myself towards the trail west of me, hoping to shake them off. But as I veered in that direction, they changed their course as well. How the heck...? I quickly reanalyzed the image I saw. Of the four, one of the pursuers was wrapped in a soft lavender aura: most of that purple energy was being focused to their eyes. _Crap! No wonder! _A thought instantly clicked in my brain. _One of them has the Byakugan! _I softly cursed under my breath and pumped all the energy I managed to recover into the soles of my feet. From what I knew the Byakugan had one of the greatest forms of insight (courtesy of the abundant and "unique" number of specimen that bastard collected during my stay) and of course, with my luck, I had to run into one of them. The distance between us continued to decrease with only twenty-three meters of separation. _At this rate I only have__ a minute at the most before they overtake me! _My fingers twitched in anxiety, my mind filled with anguish; I was going to be hauled back to my hell on earth.

Then finally the worst happened. Not paying attention to my feet, a branch beneath me snapped and sent me crashing toward the forest floor. With a loud resounding crack, something collided into my chest, knocking the wind out of my lungs. Consecutively, a sharp needle of pain drove into my right shoulder and I heard another clear crack: I think that was my skull. More tree limbs smashed against my own. Branches relentlessly raked against my skin, easily tearing it off. Suddenly the ground came into view and I plunged into the ground, square on my broken shoulder. For a second I thought I blacked out, and then an agonizing wave of pain swept through me like an ocean of icy water. My whole body was broken and injured in some way, but the throbbing of my head and the biting pain in my shoulder occupied my thoughts. Everything around me spun horribly and my vision was blurred by a red tinted fluid. At the same time a warm scent wafted past my nose: a strong smell of salt and iron dominated the air.

I became aware of the fact that I was bleeding. Pretty badly too. And if I was normal, enough to die and sink into a never-ending oblivion.

_Don't you dare think about that now! You better not die or I'll torture you in the afterlife and you'll wish you stayed in this godforsaken world! _My inner voice snarled and viciously threatened. It was obvious that it was going to act like that; it wanted to keep on existing so it had to keep its host alive.

Slowly, a blanket of darkness began to dim my vision. Talk about your life flashing before your eyes. Fragments of my past entered my mind, and the more I remembered, the more I wanted to be swallowed by the darkness for good. It hurt too much to live. As I was about to close out my consciousness, the sound of footsteps kept me tied to my surroundings. They halted a few feet away from me.

"There she is… go check her condition," A deep, stern voice commanded. Soft footsteps followed the order.

The near-death version of me awaited her verdict when I thought heard a small gasp come from someone. Probably a small glitch in my head. A soft feminine voice responded, obviously filled with unnecessary concern, "Her vitals are low and she's lost too much blood… At this rate she only has a few minutes left, we have to bring her to the village immediately." Well that's something new, since when was anyone concerned for me at all?

The two voices engaged in an argument, I only managed to pick out a few words as the darkness continued to crush my mind deeper into the black hole.

The male's voice was raised slightly, "She's an outsider… they won't accept her…" Like anyone actually did… That's nothing new.

"But… … …we have to try… …maybe in this case…" The girl said. "We can't leave her… … …"

"… … …don't say that…" He demanded in softer tone. Then he sounded defeated "… … … take her… we're going to the village."

Fatigue soon overwhelmed me and I began to drift back into the darkness, unable to resist any longer. Away from the distractions I started to wonder, if they weren't after me then what was their purpose? And why would any stranger want to help me…?

"Come on girl, hang on…" One last voice implored, his tone slightly different from the other two. That one phrase sprouted even more surprise and confusion in my thoughts. Within his ragged and wild timbre, he almost sounded… desperate.

In the back of my mind, I could hear that annoying thing chuckling within me. But that's something I'm used to on a daily basis. Something else had appeared in my mind. Like a glimpse of light that was finally awakened... It was something else that had been buried deep within the neverending trenches of my own heart...

–_, I'm six years old. You told me last year that we were going to visit him, but we never even went near that country. How come I have to be away from him for so long?_

_We already discussed this. It's for your own sake..._

_But what if he's lonely?_

_Please trust me, you saw for yourself he's a big boy. He's strong, he'll be able to wait a little longer. You on the other hand need to get better before we'll be able to return._

_But when's that gonna be?_

_I'll tell you what. If you promise to stop asking, we'll able to find _–_ and get you fixed up within the next week. Then we'll head back as fast as we could. When we arrive at the village, we'll find him and we'll finally be able to live together in peace. How's that sound?_

_You promise?_

_Absolutely. So is it a deal?_

_Deal!_

I was about ready to completely shut down, but I could tell that the first voice was definitely mine when I was really little. But... I don't remember ever saying any of that. In fact that whole entire conversation was new material. And more importantly, who was I talking to? It may not have been totally indentifiable, however something was there. I felt a faint glow of recognition in my brain. Where had I hear that voice before?

* * *

I stared down the fairly worn forest path, slowly walking beside my pink-haired teammate, Sakura-chan, along with two other Konoha shinobi, Neji and Tenten. We weren't too eager to get involved in the ridiculous competition set by their current Jounin leader, Might Gai. It was a race from Suna to Konoha. However unrealistic it was, Gai's faithful pupil Rock Lee, also Neji and Tenten's third squad member (and also known as Mini-Gai for reasons everyone knows by now…), had whole-heartedly joined in the race with more enthusiasm than I thought possible. As usual, the mini-Gai found it as the perfect opportunity to train. And if events at Suna didn't happen like they did, I would have joined in too.

We were getting back from their successful mission rescue the fourth Kazekage of Sunagakure from an enemy organization called the Akatsuki. This organization's purpose was to obtain all nine Bijuu demons, as they constantly and openly expressed by their dwindling numbers, but what they plan to do with them, not even Baa-chan had a clue. I also had been worrying of when my time of capture would come. As far as I knew, each demon was sealed in a human being to become its container, suppressing its powers. These humans were called Jinchuuriki. Gaara, the Kazekage, was abducted because he was a Jinchuuriki and contained Shukkaku, the one-tailed demon. It was only a matter of time 'til the black-coated, criminal organization would begin their search for me, Uzumaki Naruto, a Jinchuuriki as well. Within me I held the Kyuubi, also known as the nine-tailed fox demon.

While we did manage to retrieve Gaara back, the Akatsuki in turn managed to snag his Shukkaku. During the extraction process they killed him but after two members of Akatsuki were defeated, Chiyo-baasama gave up her life to revive Gaara. Something we, especially me, would be forever grateful for...

So after the mission, me and the rest of the gang said our goodbyes to Gaara and his older siblings, Kankuro and Temari. It was kinda nice to know that he was safe for now, after all me and him were the same in a lot of ways and we've been good friends for a long time too.

Yeah… Good thing that's all done and over with, I interlaced my fingers against the back of my head.

"Naruto-kun," Sakura's voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Yeah?" I replied lazily.

"Look," She said as she pointed forward.

My ocean blue eyes followed her finger and saw the concrete gates to Konoha only a few meters away. At the entrance, enshrouded in a cloud of dust was the green-suited, dynamic duo displaying victory poses. I shook my head; I would never get their strange ways. On Gai's back, the infamous "Sharingan Kakashi" (my squad's team leader) hung pathetically limp by his legs. Man, it sucked to be him! He was piggybacked all the way back to Konoha and nothing was worse than the sight of two grown men piggybacking. I shuddered at the thought.

I looked over at the other two. Neji and Tenten slumped in embarrassment. I felt bad for them. I would have already died of embarrassment if Gai-sensei was the leader of my squad, Lee was on a bearable level most of the time. Yeah those two were pretty weird. I glanced back at Neji, A.K.A. Mr. Stick-in-the-Mud. I could've sworn that his eyebrow was twitching.

In the distance, Gai-sensei and Lee were arguing, something about who had won. But really all I was watching was Kakashi-sensei being swung around helplessly. A look of disbelief spread across my face, and just like Neji, I felt my right eye brow twitch.

Once we reached the entrance gates, Lee furiously scribbled something onto his notepad as he cried out, "OOOOOWAAAA, SENSEI JUST GAVE ME ANOTHER IMPORTANT TIP, I CAN FEEL IT!!!!"

_Oh boy, fire of youth here we come... _I thought tiredly.

Neji's twitch only got worse. "And as usual I have no idea why they're in such an inappropriate mood."

"Yeah but you kinda got into the race back to the village, didn't ya?" Tenten teased the overly serious Jounin (I still can't believe Neji's already a freakin' Jounin!). Now that would have been another scary thing to see. I could only imagine...

Neji scoffed, "Don't be ridiculous!" But his flushed look betrayed him. Tenten just giggled to herself and rolled her eyes.

Gai-sensei twisted around to face our embarrassed group. "Yosh! If everyone's here, we'll give that report to Tsunade-sama and-"

"Um, Gai-sensei," Sakura quickly intervened, noticing Kakashi-sensei hanging by his legs nearly lifeless.

"Hmm?"

Her expression hinted at the obvious. "Kakashi-sensei is..."

Totally oblivious to the fact that Kakashi-sensei was on his back, he turned his head. "Oh! I guess we should take him to the hospital before we give that report!" He laughed cheerfully. On his back, Kakashi-sensei was incoherently mumbling something. Poor guy was so delusional from all those concussions... He must have gotten them during the race.

I sighed internally. How could Gai-sensei be so carefree about that?

* * *

It had been a couple hours ago when Gai-sensei and his squadron left Kakashi in the hospital room. Sakura and I waited for Kakashi to awaken. Couldn't blame him. I probably wouldn't be awake if I was thrashed around by Gai-sensei.

I leaned against the wall behind me, partially exhausted by the trip back and all those fights we managed to win. Damn, those Akatsuki sure know how to pound you into the ground.

_No one wants a screwed up kid who's not even human. Why would I think of such a stupid possibility?_

"Eh?" I woke up from my sleep-like state and looked over at Sakura-chan. "Did you say something?"

My teammate just shook her head, appearing just as confused as I was. What the...? Then who was it? I knew I wasn't imagining it. It couldn't be the Kyuubi, it had a male voice and was a jack ass most of the time. And it was a girl voice. Sakura was the only girl in the room. I quickly looked around, just to make sure. But the only ones here were me, an unconscious Kakashi, and Sakura-chan. I was sure that I heard that voice before. It sounded like someone I knew... Then I heard a slight groan. I looked down and saw Kakashi's eyes open slightly. "Oi, he's awake!" I announced.

Kakashi-sensei sighed tiredly. "I'm here again?" It wasn't strange for me to see Kakashi in the hospital. He'd been here a lot of times, usually from using his Sharingan too much. And this went under the catergory of "usually".

Suddenly, I heard Baa-chan's voice enter the relatively room. "Good work Kakashi. You did well on this past mission. You have once again far exceeded my expectations." As usual she was followed by her dark-haired assistant, Shizune who was responsible for keeping Tsunade from slacking on the job and/or getting drunk. I turned my eyes to her, expecting another report or medical checkup of his condition.

"Ah Tsunade-sama…" Kakashi greeted her, trying to get up. Slowly the bed sheet that covered the lower half of his face began to fall... and... I leaned a little closer, hoping to get his first look of Kakashi's face but... Dang it! He laid back down just before it slipped off. I almost saw his face under those sheets… How did he always manage to keep it covered up?

"Don't force it Kakashi. I took a look at you earlier and with all that strength and chakra you used during the mission, you're going to have to stay in bed for at least a week," Tsunade-baachan finalized, crossing her arms over her chest. "And even after you're out, it'll be days before I give you the okay to go on any missions." I glanced back at Kakashi-sensei. I just have to see what his face looks like at least once.

The silver-haired jounin sighed again in disappointment. "I figured that would be the case… I hoped that I would be able to do some simple recon missions for warm ups, but I suppose I'll have to manage." I stretched his body a little further. Just one peek wouldn't hurt…

Tsunade thought out loud. "Hmm, and it also looks like it'll take some time before you'll be able to master that new Sharingan form of yours." I stretched my body as far as I could before falling over. I quickly straightening my stance, hoping no one saw. _Shoot! I nearly fell… Aww man I was so close too…_ Suddenly I felt a drilling, anger-filled glare boring into my back. I turned around to find the daggers of rage belonging to Sakura. Uh oh, she musta saw me.I sheepishly grinned, scratching the back of his head. It was a force of habit.

Kakashi-sensei replied, "You're probably right. Although it shouldn't take an exceedingly long time after I get out of this room."

The blonde Godaime shook her head and sighed. "Well for the time being you need to—"

"Tsunade-sama!"

A female medic-nin burst into the relatively quiet room, breaking the peaceful atmosphere. Both me and Sakura jumped at the noise, gearing into alert mode. The woman spoke in a higher than normal pitch, "There is a young girl just outside the hospital in critical condition and needs your attention!" Obaa-chan looked at her critically for a moment, and then quickly glanced at Sakura-chan, who nodded slightly in confirmation. Once the silent exchange was finished, the four of them including Shizune, immediately left the room.

"Sakura-chan!" I followed after them, curious about the situation.

With a short sprint, I was on the ground floor. Nurses and medical ninja bustled everywhere, preparing medical charts, beds, and briefly discussing, what I thought to be about the patient that had just arrived. I skimmed over the rushing doctors, trying to find my pink haired teammate. In that exact moment, the air became intensified by significantly large amounts of chakra. It made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. What the hell was that? Then I heard the Kyuubi's voice echo in my mind. _I have a bad feeling about this kid. The chakra felt as strong as that raccoon-dog, Shukkaku, but it's definitely nothing I've ever felt before. _That wasn't good. If it worried the always arrogant Kyuubi, it had to be something really strong. After a few more seconds of searching, I finally spotted Sakura within the hassled confusion.

I followed Sakura through the hospital's double doors, only to be shoved back in by a blood-stained stretcher. The female Sannin quickly took command, barking orders to both Sakura-chan and Shizune. "Shizune find the other wounds and stop the bleeding there! Sakura keep track of her blood levels and vitals, and focus on repairing arteries and restoring her chakra! We need to keep her from bleeding to death!" Her own hands were busy healing the massive bleeding on the girl's head.

I sidestepped out of their way so they could get her to a room. However I managed to catch a quick glimpse of the girl on the stretcher. She looked really young, about two or three years younger than me. Maybe around twelve or thirteen, but it was hard to tell with all the blood and cuts on her body. And that wasn't the only problem. I could immediately tell that her shoulder was really screwed up since her arm was angled inward. The girl's skin was torn raw in so many places and the parts that were still intact were pale enough to be mistaken as death; her long light brown hair was bloodied by the cut on her forehead. Probably the only thing that told me she was still alive was the shallow and occasional rise of her chest. The whole image sent a cold shiver down my spine. I didn't understand how Sakura-chan could stand it.

I was amazed, well actually surprised that she was still alive with all those injuries. No doubt, she was almost dead but… No one her age could survive that much bleeding. I didn't have a lot of medical smarts but I knew enough to know that something was definitely strange about her.

As the medical team rushed her down the busy hall, I caught part of the conversation.

"Who brought this girl here?" Tsunade questioned as she began to work on the girl's shoulder.

The medical-nin quickly answered, "I believe it was one of the three-person Chuunin squads, I think they used to be Kurenai's students." My ears perked up at the information. Kurenai's students? That's Hinata, Kiba, and Shino. But why would they bring back a girl from a mission? Shino was a total stiff about following the rules and keeping to a mission.

"Her heart rate is dropping!" Shizune yelled out, interrupting my thoughts.

Obaa-chan responded immediately, "Quickly, get her into the ER. I need to repair her ribs as well before they puncture one of her lungs."

As soon as they disappeared behind the doors of the ER, I dashed outside, hoping to get some answers from my old friends. Whatever happened to her must have been bad. But instead I crashed into someone just outside the hospital's shaded glass doors. Jeez, can't people watch where they're going! I sucked in a deep breath, ready to yell at the stupid person who was dumb enough to stand in front of the freakin' door of a hospital... until I saw the person I ran into. It was a girl about my age laying flat on her back, completely stunned by the impact. Straight dark blue locks covered her face. I instantly shot up, hovering over her. Shoot I almost cussed out a girl...

Damn, I really hoped I didn't hurt her. That would totally suck. I lightly shook her shoulder and the stunned teenager slowly aroused with a soft moan. "Hey, hey are you alright?" I sincerely asked as I carefully took her arm and helped her up. Man was she light... When I got a good look at her one thought slipped through my mind, _Wow, she's really pretty too…_ Suddenly I felt a rush of blood in my cheeks. Why the heck was I blushing?

"G-g-gomenasai! I-I didn't mean to… I was just…" The girl shyly apologized. For a second she sounded like someone I knew... Her head sprang up, deeply embarrassed as well. Her soft lavender eyes, bordered by a signature blush, froze on mine. Holy crap...

"HINATA!?" I exclaimed, practically shouting.

"N-N-Naruto-kun!?" Hinata stuttered at the opposite volume, her eyes wide in surprise. At that moment her porcelain face flushed bright scarlet.

Man what the heck was I supposed to say? I just knocked her down and didn't even know who she was until now. But you can't blame me for that. She changed a lot from the last time I saw her. I nervously scratched the back of my head. "Uh sorry Hinata-chan… I didn't mean to run into… I mean I didn't want to run into you… I mean I wanted to but not like that… yeah I was… I'm sorry…" I stupidly blurted my apology. Dang I sounded like a total retard!

Hinata broke eye contact and shook her head, keeping her head down. "I-It's alright Naruto-kun. I shouldn't have been in the way. If it was a patient, I would have caused some problems. I'm sorry for causing trouble." Why in the world was she apologizing? She had no idea someone like me would rush through the hospital entrance.

"C'mon Hinata," I grinned and stooped down lower so I could see her face. "You've got nothing to be apologizing for. I shouldn't have been running around in the first place right?… Actually I should be the one getting yelled at for that," I laughed cheerfully, trying to take some of the blame. It wasn't right that she should bring herself down like that. Luckily that brought her up to smile. "Besides, it's great to see you again. I hardly even recognized you at first. I mean after just two an' a half years…" I quickly circled her once, "you've really changed." I somehow managed to compliment with a sincere widespread grin without stuttering. Kami knows she changed. Hinata, the extremely weird shy girl that I met back at the academy was... I don't know. She was beautiful.

Flustered by the compliment, she blushed a deeper shade. "Not really… If anyone's changed it's you, Naruto-kun. You've grown a lot taller than I remember and I'm pretty sure you've gotten stronger as well." That's definitely true: Ero-Sennin said that I've shot up to six feet and I've got a couple new jutsu up my sleeve to prove my strength. But I was pretty sure that she got stronger as well. She always managed to catch up with me every time I met up with her.

That's when I noticed how tall I really was. I playfully joked, "Well I hope our strength difference isn't as much as our height difference 'cause that'd be a little too much…" To verify my point, I stood up straight and placed my hand on top of her head, comparing the obvious difference in height. Another huge grin stretched across my face when she only came up to my chin. "See?"

Hinata slightly frowned. "That's not fair…" Caught up in the moment, she playfully teased back. "It's only because you had growth spurt while you were away. You used to be the same height as me when we were kids."

I chuckled, happy to get her going. She was being a good sport about it, too. Sakura-chan would have hit me in the gut by now and blasted me to the next country over. I continued teasing, "Right, right… But from what I remember, I think I was still a little taller than you then." Hinata crossed her arms and pouted slightly. Uh oh. For a moment she seemed almost angry at me, but then something made her break into a smile, even if it was only a small shy one. Hah! I got her to smile twice! I happily laughed, which then I heard a fit of giggles.

For a few moments I remained grinning like an idiot, taking in the sound of her laughter. This was totally more fun than when she was being all shy around me. She acted a lot more comfortable around me than I remembered: she actually talked to me normally. Before she couldn't even look me in the eye without stuttering every word in her sentences. Now she seemed more confident about herself. That made me happy. And I was serious about what I said before: Hinata just looked a lot more… what was the word, mature. She had grown out her hair past her shoulders. And I had to say long hair looked good on her. I liked it. But she still stuck to jackets which I found to be oddly disappointing... And even though she still stuttered a little and would get the same blush around me like before (which for one thing I didn't really mind, but I just couldn't figure out why she did that) she definitely wasn't a kid anymore. I sorta liked the fact that she was still the same Hinata personality wise, it brought back some good memories.

I stood there waiting for her speak but she looked as awkward waiting for me to talk as I felt. Oh for Kami's sake… I was talking to the shyest shinobi in the whole entire village. Oh boy... I racked my mind for something to talk about. My brain chose the perfect time to malfunction. Great. That's when it hit me. Usually, I didn't have the chance to have an awkward silence with Hinata. "Hey where's Kiba and Shino? Aren't they with you?" Whew…

Hinata sighed, probably from relief. "They went to report to Kurenai-sensei on the status of our mission earlier. It's just something we normally do when we return from a mission."

I pursed my lips then suddenly remembered. "And so you stayed at the hospital while they did reporting duty."

"What do you mean?" She asked, confused.

I jerked my thumb behind me. "That girl just now, did she have anything to do with that mission of yours?"

"Oh," Her voice grew softer. "…How did you know about her?"

"Well me, Sakura and Kakashi-sensei had just gotten back from our mission, and we were talkin' to Obaa-chan when some medic nin just barged in needing her help. Anyways that's when I saw her on a stretcher before I got out here and she didn't look too good at all. And I don't think she's from around here. Never saw her face in the village before. So I assumed she was with you guys when I heard that you were the ones who brought her here."

Hinata shook her head. "She wasn't part of the mission. We just happened to track her on the way back. When I spotted her, she looked like she was running away from something." Then her eyes were downcast as the atmosphere around us suddenly changed. "She must have thought that we were after her, and that caused her to fall and get injured like that… I shouldn't have mentioned her ever crossing my vision or else she'd be fine now." What? Why was she blaming herself for all this?

"Hinata…"

"I should have just left her alone and then-"

I gripped Hinata by her shoulders and glared at her. "Don't blame yourself for what happened. There was no way you could've known it would end up like this. It was just an accident, and they happen all the time. So you don't need waste your energy beating yourself up for something that you weren't responsible for. Listen to me!" I ordered, for she had looked away again. My voice grew softer. "This isn't your fault and I don't think Kiba and Shino would like it if you were depressed." _'Cause I know I don't..._ "Besides if those guys she was running from caught up to her, who knows what would've happened to her. You could have just as well saved her life." After my speech I lessened my hold on her, smiling at the end. I really hoped I got through to her. But just to be on the safe side... "What matters is that she's alive, right?"

Hinata-chan solemnly nodded. "You're right. That's all that matters." She sighed, apparently unsatisfied. This was one of the things that didn't change: the fact that she would always blame herself for problems that she didn't cause. Why did she do that? It was a mystery to me, but it musta had something to do with the way she was raised. Y'know with her asshole father and all.

All of a sudden her face changed into something between worry and confusion. "She's really young. I'm surprised she's still alive." She said changing the subject.

My eyes stayed on her. "Hmm, you noticed too?"

"Yes," Astonishment clearly reflected in her tone. "When we found her she was actually in worse condition then she is now."

I listened intently. "What do you mean?"

"Well, when I checked her vitals, her heart rate was extremely low and she was barely breathing at all. 'On death's edge' as Kiba would say. Kiba carried her to the village, mentioning that the swollen parts from where her bones were broken had disappeared. Once we arrived at the northern gates, I checked her again. Most of her bruises and small cuts had disappeared and her heart rate had dramatically increased. And this was all within a matter of five minutes at the most."

I crossed my arms. Things like that don't happen every day. I replied, "I knew something was weird about her. Anything else?"

Her eyes drifted to the lower left corner, deep in thought. "Now that you mention it, when I caught sight of her chakra network, it wasn't a light blue like everyone else's. It gave off a dangerously, powerful red aura; that was why I bothered mentioning it. And then when I examined her, I couldn't see any of her chakra points nor could I input any chakra into her body, like there was a protective barrier surrounding her. It was odd." She answered, completely oblivious to my sudden interest. That was a good thing.

I turned my eyes to the sky. The first part of what she mentioned was totally obvious. Her description fitted exactly with all the times when I borrowed chakra from the Kyuubi... But it wasn't possible, there was only one Kyuubi and it was sealed inside of me. And the latter didn't make any sense to me; when I was fighting Neji back at the Chuunin Exams, he was able to see and hit all my chakra points just fine. So the shield wasn't caused by the Kyuubi. Maybe it was something like Gaara's sand shield but only protected her from foreign sources entering her body. That meant she could be another Jinchuuriki, like me and Gaara...

"Naruto-kun, is something wrong?" I was temporarily snapped out of my thoughts by Hinata-chan. Her hand was on my jacket, a concerned expression painted on her face.

I smiled. "Sorry just thinking about what you said. It reminded me of something I saw before." I stared off into the distance returning to those thoughts.

Hinata's tone sounded surprised. "Really with who?"

Then I did something stupid. I panicked, answering way too quickly. "I-I don't really remember..." I waved my hands in front of me defensively. What the heck was I doing? "I-It's nothing really. I just spaced out for a minute, y'know. Probably just imagined that part up. Nope, I've never seen anything like this before!" Great like that was really convincing... Damn I was so screwed. Like a lot of my other friends, Hinata-chan didn't know anything about the Kyuubi being sealed inside of me. The only one of our graduating class that knew was Sakura and I still don't know what she thinks about me now. Anyways, I wanted to keep it that way. Back when I was little, all the adults hated me for being the container for that thing. I won't lie: it hurt a lot to be hated so much for existing. But since then it's gotten better and I've learned to ignore them. Still, some of the villagers to this day despise me and give me dark looks. I didn't want Hinata-chan to be one of those people.

Luckily, she didn't pursue the subject, though she didn't look convinced. "Well, if you say so..."

I let out a sigh and resumed my cheerful façade, but inside I was torn. I didn't like lying to any of my friends, especially Hinata. She deserved to know. But if I told her my secret I might lose her... Whoa, that sounded so strange. "So what're we gonna do now?" I asked, eager to change the subject.

Hinata began to push her fingers together; another one of her nervous habits. "I-If you're worried about her, we could visit the hospital later when Tsunade-sama and Sakura-chan are done examining her physical condition and she's settled in a room. Until then I don't really have anything in mind, so why don't we meet up here later, alright?" That's right. Obaa-chan would know what was really wrong with the girl and then I could just force the truth out of her... It would be a piece of cake. But if that girl really was a Jinchuuriki... I shook my head, getting rid of those thoughts. "...I-I-I guess I'll see you later Naruto-kun," Hinata-chan said as she turned to leave.

However, something made me grab onto her shoulder, stopping her effectively. "Uh Hinata-chan?" When she turned around, I quickly but casually looked to the side, avoiding her gentle gaze. Man what in the world was I doing? I began to scratch the back of my head, and then continued as casually as possible. "I was wondering, since you're not doing anything... Do you wanna, y'know, grab some ramen at Ichiraku or something? I-I-I mean if don't want to I totally understand and well, I don't know... I just wanted to catch up on some things with you. 'Cause I haven't really talked to you in awhile..." My voice nearly cracked at the end. Why the heck was I so nervous? It wasn't like I was taking her out on a date. We were just going as friends, right? I felt the blood rush up to my face. What the hell?! I mentally punched myself. This wasn't a date! This wasn't a date! I still liked Sakura-chan for crying out loud! Hinata-chan was just a friend... and nothing more... Man... I've been hanging out with Ero-Sennin too much.

Nervously, I peeked a glance. But Hinata just stood there giving me a blank look on her face. That got me worried. I waved my hand in front of her face. She didn't respond. "Uh Hinata-chan? Hinata-chan? Hinata!" I yelped when she suddenly collapsed on the ground. Was she sick? "Hinata! Hinata! Hinata!" I vigorously shook her. Holy crap... What in the world did I just do?!

"What the hell?! Are you trying to give her a heart attack?" A wild voice yelled from behind me. A booming bark followed his response. Judging from where the voice came from, I tilted my head up, trying to identify the source when a huge white dog nearly plunged on top of us. Instinctively, I crouched over Hinata to protect her.

When the dust cleared, I twisted around and defensively growled, "Hey watch it! Your mutt nearly crushed us!" A teenage brunette my age was mounted on the humongous white canine. That arrogant son of a... Wait. Those red triangle marks on his face... That annoying sarcasm in his voice... "Huh?! Kiba?!" My eyes nearly popped out of my skull. If this was Kiba did that mean...

Kiba enthusiastically hopped off the canine and ran up to me. Something made him stop. Holding his head out, he sniffed me for a second. What did I smell funny? Then he smiled widely. "Yep! That smell is definitely you, Naruto!" He exclaimed happily.

My surprise faltered for a second. I narrowed my eyes at him. "That's how you recognized me? By smell?" A deep bark resonated from the large dog, as if agreeing. I peered behind Kiba with all my thoughts on one thing. It just wasn't possible, was it? "Don't tell me. Is that dog-"

Kiba stared at me with a funny look as if he was talking to a tree. "What are you talkin' about? He's Akamaru, of course!" Akamaru wagged his tail happily on cue.

"Eh?!" I exclaimed. How could... How did... What the heck was Kiba feeding him?!

Kiba grinned at me and noted, "Hey you got pretty tall, huh?"

What in the world was he talkin' about?! His dog exploded in size and he's telling me I've grown. "What about Akamaru? Akamaru used to ride on top of your head! Now _you're_ riding on his back!" I clearly remembered the small Akamaru puppy that always sat on Kiba's head.

Suddenly I heard him whimper. I looked down and saw Akamaru right next to Hinata, who was still clocked, nudging her softly with his nose.

"Ah Hinata! I forgot about her!" How could I do that? In one fluid motion I picked her up in my arms and faced Kiba. I said apologetically (that's the spelling right?), "I was just talking to her when she suddenly fainted on me. I don't know what happened. What should we do?" My acute hearing picked up a snicker from Kiba. I narrowed my eyes in suspicion while Akamaru move next to his master.

Kiba scratched behind one of Akamaru's ears. "Don't know. She hasn't fainted since you left. So I thought she had gotten over it, but I guess I was wrong." He pointed toward the hospital behind me. "Why don't we just stick her in the hospital for now and wait for her to wake up? We don't really have anything else to do for now."

Looking up at the large structure, I nodded. "Yeah that'll probably be best. I wanna stay with her anyway; I have a lot of catching up to do." As we made our way to the medical building, I looked around waiting for their creepy third teammate to suddenly pop up out of nowhere, as he always did. When he didn't show I asked, "So where's Shino?"

Kiba shrugged his shoulders uncaringly. "Still with Kurenai-sensei, filling her in on all the details of our mission and explaining why we were at the hospital. She would have thought Hinata got hurt or somethin'."

"About the girl, right?" Nothing new really.

Kiba was a bit surprised. "How did–"

"Hinata told me already, so you don't need to fill me in. I also saw her in a stretcher while Sakura-chan and Obaa-chan worked on her injuries. She was pretty racked up."

He sighed and rubbed Akamaru's head. "Yeah I know. When we found her, her blood had a really strong smell mixed within it. I definitely never came across that scent before." Akamaru interrupted with a whimper. "Neither did Akamaru. And we both know something's weird about her."

_That makes four of us. _I grimly thought, silently nodding. "From what Hinata said, I suppose so." I had a lot more stuff to say than that but then I'd probably blurt out my secret. And that would totally suck.

"Well I guess all we could do is wait," He replied. "For both of them." I took my eyes off the girl in my arms for only a second. Kiba grinned, shaking his head as he moved on ahead.

Did I miss something?


End file.
